A quick update on our Summer of Sound sale, which went live earlier this week. While the sale has already been active both on our website and with retailers worldwide, we felt that it was not the right time to do any marketing around it. We felt that there were more important voices and messages that needed to be heard during this time.

We know that this a popular sale and that many of our regular customers look forward to this event each year, so we just wanted to let you know why we have not communicated about it so far. All communication will be going live on Monday, in the meantime, we hope that you will find something in our sale that excites you. Stay safe and happy music making.

Day 2: Trilogy completed with the release of Ostinato Woodwinds! first come first served totally for :fire:FREE! (limited amount). When we run out of free versions we’ll offer a 50% discount for the remaining time on the 48h offer at https://www.sonokinetic.net/sale?ref=NI2

Ostinato Woodwinds are NKS ready and compatible with the free Kontakt player version 5.8.1 or later.

12 Days Of Christmas Day 7: Half way friends, but far from done. Today our biggest discount of this 12DOC: 80% discount on our multisampled “Woodwinds Ensembles”. 100.000+ HQ samples in a 50GB library at https://www.sonokinetic.net/sale?ref=ni7

This comprehensive bells collection comprises four libraries: Bowls, Carillon, Chime and Sleigh Bells 2. All recorded in our bespoke AMS studio, these varied instruments shine when played together, with a cohesive tone to create one of the most musical collections that we've ever recorded.

BOWLS: Known as the meditative musical sound of tranquility, the bowls we recorded for this instrument have a magical quality and emit pure frequencies. These quartz crystal glass bowls give off such a lush and dreamy tone that we had a hard time tearing ourselves away from the recording. We sampled 4 bowls of varying sizes from 20cm to 25cm diameter, struck with a glass mallet with a rubber finish. We also rubbed the mallet around the edge of the bowls to make them “sing” a light and airy musical note. The samples here have such a gorgeous and complex tone that the AMS microphone system we used for recording gives a completely different character for each of the different mic positions. Give them a try and see what you think of these spiritual sounds.

CARILLON: Recording these Carillon bells was a challenge, but one which we relished. These are real clock tower bells weighing up to half a ton on the biggest set, so it's a very powerful sound which we captured in great detail. Once we had managed to get these large bells into the studio (with the help of some heavy lifting equipment) we set about recording them with two different mallet types. We also captured a rubbed articulation, with a sustained rub around the outside of the bell, either the sound bow or the waist, depending on the size of the bell. Although the strong and stoic timbres here are perfect for dramatic hits, we also recorded plenty of softer strikes which can sound extremely melodic when you play at lower velocities. With the onboard options for sound shaping and reversed articulations, our Carillon ended up being far more versatile than we had ever imagined.

CHIME: Finding the right bells for Chime sent us on a magical mystery tour to source authentic antiques. We didn’t want to record factory machined bells but rather remastered hand-cast copies of original clock bells from 17th and 18th century clocks. This collection features designs from the chime bells of Dutch Amsterdam Standing clocks, French Pendules, Comtoises, Dutch Grand Father clocks, Bracket clocks, Carriage clocks and large watch bells. We just love the sound of these bell chimes and each one of them is unique. They are made from a alloy of silver and bronze and hand-tuned to retain the vintage character. The clarity of these bells surpasses those that are usually used for orchestral bell trees and we’re proud to have remade and recorded them.

SLEIGH BELLS II: There’s no instrument that evokes the magic of the holiday season like sleigh bells. Ever since Santa kitted out Rudolph and his reindeer chums with these tinkling tiny chimes, the season has never been the same. This instrument brings us right back to our childhood, waiting patiently in bed to hear the sounds of sleigh bells overhead - or maybe that’s just our imagination? We’ve sampled sleigh bells once before, but this new collection is hugely expanded, updated and completely re-recorded with new groupings of bells in all sorts of different sizes. You can play everything from 6 bells, up to 100 on a single bell tree, which is a giant sound. Within the instrument there are multiple options for playing long and short shakes, clusters and even sequencing sleigh bell patterns.

We used a brand new recording system for this collection which we have named the Aligned Microphone Setup (AMS). This consists of an array of various stereo and mono microphones providing 7 configurable microphone positions within each instrument

Overview Videos

Demos

The Bells collection is NKS ready and compatible with the free Kontakt Player version 5.8.1 or later. The bundle is currently discounted by 50% to €37.50 for the 12 days of Christmas and is available at https://www.sonokinetic.net/sale?ref=ni11